A forgotten action gem about a young man (Sheen) who faces off against the sinister sheriff (Morrow) who killed his brother. Featuring the most daring and amazing car chases this side of Bullitt, The California Kid burns r... more &raquoubber with a dynamite cast, including Academy Award nominee Nick Nolte. Vic Morrow turns in one of his finest performances as the twisted sheriff, a man with nasty habits that must be seen to be believed. A wonderful, action-packed film, filled with exotic antique cars and beautiful mountain vistas.&laquo less

Member Movie Reviews

Interesting treatment of the 'Tyranical Sheriff'. Hard to belive those actors looked so young.

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Movie Reviews

WOW! I HAVEN'T SEEN THIS IN A LONG TIME! GREAT TV MOVIE!

! MR. KNOW IT ALL ;-b | TRI STATE AREA | 07/10/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a very good TV movie from the mid 70's. The story is about a small town and it's sadistic sheriff(played by Vic Morrow) who has a unique way of dealing with out of town highway speeders. He just rams them until they go out of control and go over the side a famous cliff on the outskirts of the small town. Saves a lot of time and the tax payers money! right? That is until the "California Kid"(played by Martin Sheen) comes to town looking for his brother, who's missing! I was lucky enough to order this through Amazon when it was available! The DVD transfer is very good, but no extras. I would be happy to have a few classic TV movies on DVD like this, extras or not! Keep them coming! "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark", "Bad Ronald", "The Boy Who Cried Werewolf", "Trapped", "Dark Night Of The Scarecrow" Oh the 70's TV movies were great!"

Sheen And Morrow Classic

Trevor William Douglas | Gorokan, NSW Australia | 01/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a pleasant surprise to find this 1974 televison film in pristine condition!

Billed as ABC TVs 200th 'Movie Of The Week'

Martin Sheen is excellent as always and is ably supported by Nick Nolte, Stuart Margolin and Michelle Phillips. Vic Morrow steals the show as Sheriff Roy Childress.Look fast for Martin's real life brother Joe Estevez, playing his screen brother, at the beginning of the film."

Good Movie, Poor Car Details

D. Reynolds | Chesapeake, VA USA | 01/28/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I never saw this when it originally aired, but it has held up well for it's time. My only critique is that "The California Kid" had a Windsor Ford V8 in it - and does show it in some shots, but when they do a real close-up, it's a small-block Chevy. I guess they weren't as detail-oriented as movies are today. I liked and enjoyed the movie otherwise."

Great Soundtrack and Performances by Sheen and Morrow

C. Rocklein | 05/24/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Awesome early 70s soundtrack - as funky as that car - it's ultra swanky with lots of wah-wah guitar and stuff that could have worked for Soul Cinema or Blaxploitation movies - in a word, it's very well done and contributes a lot to the atmosphere of the film - even though the story is supposedly taking place in the 50s, a good decade or so before music sounded like this! Actually, the movie is a mixed bag for me.

The Good:

Martin Sheen and Vic Morrow put in great performances.Music is great, as mentioned.Story has potential, but...

The Bad:

...but kind of falls flat in the end so that when it's over you're like, "That's it?". Anti-climatic.

The Ugly:

Bare bones production. But I didn't really mind."

California cool

John P. Janssen | l.i,N.Y. | 01/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"very cool movie!!! hot rod's rule!!! i can't get over this was a made for tv movie?"